ARMENIA PLANS NUCLEAR PLANT NEAR TURKISH BORDER>zaman>10.09.2007>>A new nuclear power plant being built in Armenia on the site of an>existing facility will end up costing about $2 billion, Armenian>Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan has said.>>"The project's feasibility study is being carried out by Armenia,>Russia, the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA]. The>old nuclear power plant is to be rebuilt within four-and-a-half years,">Movsisyan was quoted as telling the Parliament on Friday. He said>the construction of the new plant, located in the town of Metsamor,>near the Turkish border, would require a complex refit, including>the installation of seismic safeguards.>>The Metsamor nuclear reactor, which is composed of two WWER-440-230>units, each with power levels of 408 megawatts, is located not>far from the capital of Yerevan, 16 kilometers from the Turkish>border. The Armenian government decided to open the second unit in>the reactor in 1993, due to high energy needs, and thus the second>unit was started up in 1995. The Metsamor reactor provides up to 40>percent of Armenia's electricity needs and is predicted to continue>doing so until 2016. Since Yerevan decided upgrade the reactor the>Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK) has been involved in following>related developments and taking the necessary precautions from the>Turkish side.>>Movsisyan also stressed that Armenia must have a permanent source of>nuclear power and that the new Armenian nuclear power plant must be>operational until alternative sources are found. He said that "many>foreign countries now understand that Armenia must have a nuclear>power plant." "Only a new Armenian [nuclear power plant] can become>an alternative to the one now in use," he said.>>>>The Daily Star>Armenians gobble up Turkish goods>By Agence France Presse (AFP)>Monday, September 10, 2007>>YEREVAN: Turkish trucks loaded with goods are a common sight on the>winding highways of Armenia, showing that for many Armenians the>desire for a bargain outweighs historic hatred.>>"What's important for me are the quality and the price of the goods,>not where they come from," said Yerevan resident Suren, 32, who>recently bought a Turkish-made washing machine.>>Turkish goods are flooding into Armenia despite a long history of>antagonism between Armenians and Turks, closed borders and diplomatic>tensions between Ankara and Yerevan.>>Only 25 kilometers from the Turkish border, Yerevan should be a short>drive for the truckers. But with Armenia under a Turkish trade embargo>and the border sealed, they instead have to take a circuitous route>through neighboring Georgia to haul home appliances, building>materials and other goods to Yerevan.>>Turkey banned exports to Armenia and closed the border in 1993 in a>show of solidarity with ally Azerbaijan, which was at war with>Armenian-backed separatists over the territory of Nagorno>Karabakh. And angered by Armenia's campaign for international>recognition of mass killings of Armenians under the Ottomans as>genocide, Ankara has also refused to establish diplomatic ties with>Yerevan.>>Yet at the main border crossing between Armenia and Georgia, the queue>of Turkish trucks headed for Yerevan can often stretch for more than a>kilometer. To get around the embargo, the goods officially change>hands in Georgia, through middlemen or shell companies established by>Turkish exporters.>>"There is a huge quantity of Turkish goods today in Armenia," said>Gagik Kocharian, the head of the trade department at Armenia's Trade>and Economic Development Ministry.>>Home appliances, building materials, household goods, clothes and>paper products are the most common Turkish items, he said, and sales>of those goods rose 40 percent in 2006.>>Many consumers, Kocharian said, are indifferent to whether the goods>they are buying are Turkish. "People buy brands and very often are not>interested or do not know where a product is made," he said.>>Many business leaders on both sides are urging the Armenian and>Turkish governments to work to end the embargo and re-open the border.>http://www.dailystar.com.lb>>"There is great interest from companies on both sides in doing>business with each other. It would be very beneficial for both>countries to reopen the border," said Kaan Soyak, the Turkish>co-chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council.>>Re-opening the border would not only give Armenian exporters easier>access to Western markets, but also add to export routes for Turkish>companies targeting Azerbaijan and Central Asia, he>said. "Unfortunately, the political establishments on both sides>benefit from the status quo," he said.>>Analysts doubt either side will give ground soon.>>Winning international recognition of a genocide is one of Armenia's>top foreign-policy goals. Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their>kinsmen died in deportations and systematic killings on the territory>of present-day Turkey in 1915. Turkey categorically rejects the>genocide label and argues that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many>Turks died in civil strife in what was then the Ottoman Empire during>World War I.>>Turkey is also unlikely to end its staunch support for Azerbaijan in>the dispute over Nagorno Karabakh, an ethnic-Armenian enclave that>broke away from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s and now has de facto>independence. Azerbaijan has imposed its own economic embargo on>Armenia. Despite repeated meetings, Armenian and Turkish diplomats>have failed to break the deadlock.>>At a meeting in Istanbul in June, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan>Oskanian urged Turkey to open the border, but Turkey insisted on>solving the Karabakh dispute first. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah>Gul also called on Armenia to support a Turkish proposal to set up a>joint committee of Turkish and Armenian academics to study the>genocide allegations.>>And not all Armenians are willing to set political tensions aside in>the name of commerce.>>"I do not buy Turkish or Azerbaijani goods, and I absolutely don't>understand people who don't care," said Robert Sanasarian, an elderly>Armenian. "Why can't people just buy locally produced goods, helping>Armenian businesses instead of our opponents?" - AFP>>>>AMD 469MLN SPENT ON REHABILITATION OF CULTURAL,>HISTORICAL HERITAGE IN ARMENIA IN 2005>ARKA News Agency, Armenia>Sept 5 2007>>YEREVAN, September 5. /ARKA/. AMD 469mln was spent on rehabilitation>of the cultural and historical heritage in Armenia in 2005, Armenian>Deputy Minister of Culture Gagik Giurjian said at the parliament>discussion of the annual report of the Government on 2006 budget>implementation.>>In 2006, Amberd fortress was partially restored; the old church and the>bath-house were reconstructed in particular. Currently, the water lines>of the fortress are being rehabilitated," the Deputy Minister reported.>>According to him, churches of Dashtadem and Vahanavank fortresses>were reconstructed in the period; reconstruction in the fortresses>is still underway.>>In his turn, Armenian Minister of Finance and Economy Vardan>Khachatrian pointed out that particular importance was attached to>reconstruction of the cultural and historical monuments in 2006. This>policy will be pursued also in the next years. "Owing to it in one>or two years we will have beautiful cultural complexes attracting>tourists," the Minister said.>>AMD 6.6bln was allocated for the financing of cultural sphere in>Armenia in 2006.>>>STORM TO INVEST $300M IN ARMENIAN CASINO>ATE Online, UK>Sept 5 2007>>Russian gaming firm Storm International will invest $300 million in>a casino and series of gaming halls in Armenia. A spokesperson for>the company said it will build a 15-hectare gambling complex called>Shangri-La-Yerevan in the country using additional investment from>unnamed US partners.>>Armenia currently has about 50 casinos, which operate according to>a 2002 law forcing them 10 kilometres outside the capital center.